


knowing you the way i do

by finkpishnets (orphan_account)



Series: Princess Niall [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-12
Updated: 2012-07-12
Packaged: 2017-11-09 19:59:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/457817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/finkpishnets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn meets a boy who turns out to be a princess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	knowing you the way i do

**Author's Note:**

> Prequel to [Princess Niall and the Gift of True Love](http://archiveofourown.org/works/457813) and [what it means to be living](http://archiveofourown.org/works/457815). I'm still sorry.

Zayn is four months old when his parents realise the best way to get him to stop crying is to take him out to the stables. The middle-aged man who takes care of the horses doesn’t mind, laughs that they’ve got an equestrian on their hands and introduces them to the line of mares who all stay calm even when Zayn’s fingers reach out to tug at their manes.

Eventually his parents stop taking him, calm him down with bedtime stories and wooden toys made with his father’s expert fingers, and are happy when he grows up to be well-mannered and polite, the occasional temper tantrum not withstanding.

They don’t know that Zayn starts sneaking out to the stables at night the minute he’s old enough to make it there himself. No one knows except the horses and the stablemaster who just shakes his head and shows him how to brush them carefully, amused by his tenacity rather than annoyed at the intrusion.

It feels somewhat like rebellion, but underneath that it mostly just feels like safety.

 

+

 

Other boys his age talk about destiny, dream of becoming knights one day even without noble blood in their veins, of slaying dragons and saving damsels, and Zayn listens and nods and doesn’t say anything because great destinies are for other people, not for him.

He has his family and he has his horses and that’s okay.

 

+

 

There’s a boy in the creek, trousers covered in mud and hair hanging damply across his face. It’s not the best place to be – the lake’s much cleaner for starters – but he’s known other people who will sneak down here to play so he doesn’t think much of it until he realises the boy’s struggling to stand up.

“Are you okay?” he asks, getting as close to the edge of the water as he can without slipping in.

“Yes,” the boy says.

Zayn frowns, unconvinced.

“I’m swimming,” the boy says, sadly. “I thought it’d be more fun.”

“That’s not swimming,” Zayn says, folding his arms. “That’s sitting in mud.”

The boy blinks up at him and then looks down at himself, distraught. “Oh,” he says. “Uh, oops?”

“You should probably get out,” Zayn says, rolling his eyes. “You’ll catch a cold otherwise.”

“Okay,” the boy says, disappointment clouding his whole face, and something in Zayn snaps.

“Come on,” he says. “I’m going to the bakery for fresh rolls. You can come if you want.”

The boy’s eyes widen in surprise, and when he smiles Zayn figures the questions he’ll inevitably get about wandering around with a mud coated stranger will be worth it.

 

+

 

Zayn doesn’t know why he later offers to take the boy swimming by the lake but he figures it’s probably the safest option.

He’d rather give up a few hours of his afternoon than risk the possibility that stupidity kills.

 

+

 

They don’t see each other every day but Zayn finds himself expecting the boy to appear, rolling his eyes when he does but going along with whatever ridiculous plan he has anyway.

He still gets all his work done but sometimes it takes a little longer, too caught up in things that seem normal to him but make the boy’s eyes light up with adventure, and he’s worried the stablemaster will get mad.

He doesn’t though, just laughs quietly like he knows something Zayn doesn’t and shoos him away with promises of extra chores that never come.

 

+

 

They’re watching the knights practice from behind the benches, eating cold pies Zayn’s neighbour had given him that morning with a smile and a pinch of the cheek, and making the most of the late spring sunshine when reality sets in.

There’s footsteps and shouting, and Zayn only has a moment to notice the guilty expression on the boy’s face before they’re surrounded by adults, and it’s only when the palace official says _“Princess Niall!”_ in that shocked and scolding tone that Zayn realises he’s never even asked the boy’s name.

Which, yeah.

Not his smartest moment.

 

+

 

“My best friend’s a princess,” Zayn says to no one, long after the others have disappeared.

It sounds just as absurd when he says it aloud.

 

+

 

Princess Niall finds him the next day, and Zayn’s not sure how he’s supposed to act. He doesn’t know what the _rules are_ here, doesn’t know if he’s even allowed to talk to him or if there are laws in place that would end with him flogged or something, so he just focuses on brushing out Darwyn’s mane and doesn’t look the princess in the eye.

“Hi,” Niall says eventually, shuffling his feet, and it’s such a _boyish_ thing to do that Zayn feels momentarily better about not realising his new friend was royalty.

“So you’re the princess,” he says after a moment, and it’s not exactly how he wanted to start the conversation but at least it gets to the point.

“Yes,” Niall says. “Well, I mean, there are _other_ princesses. Just not here. Um.”

“Right,” Zayn says, shaking his head, and then: “But why were you spending time with me?”

Niall frowns. “Because you’re my friend,” he says, and _shit_ , Zayn doesn’t know when he became so emotionally invested in this whole thing but that makes him feel about ten times better which is _ridiculous_.

“Okay,” he says, putting down the brush with a sigh. “Okay. But, I’m just calling you Niall okay?”

“I’m not sure that’s proper,” Niall says, but he’s smiling a little in that unsure way Zayn’s become used to so Zayn ignores him.

“Your parents aren’t going to have me flogged, are they?” Zayn checks, and Niall laughs, shaking his head.

“No,” he says. “They think you’re a good influence. Apparently it’s refreshing to have someone point out when I’m being an idiot.”

“Well good,” Zayns says, rolling his eyes and wondering what exactly he’s got himself in to, “because you frequently are. But you’re my friend too, so I suppose I can cope with that.”

 

+

 

The other boys his age still talk about becoming knights, still dream of adventures they’ll never have and dragons they’ll never slay, and Zayn listens and nods and doesn’t say anything because maybe they don’t have great destinies after all.

He’s starting to think, though, that maybe, somehow, he does.


End file.
